Assistant Secretary for Land and Minerals Management

The assistant secretary for land and minerals management oversees four departmental agencies: the Bureau of Land Management, the Bureau of Ocean Energy Management, the Bureau of Safety and Environmental Enforcement, and the Office of Surface Mining, Reclamation and Enforcement. Overall, this includes a budget of $1.5 billion and more than 12,000 employees. The assistant secretary also guides the use of about 245 million acres of federal surface lands, 700 million acres of federal mineral interests and the 1.7 billion acre Outer Continental Shelf.⁶

• Guides the department’s management and use of federal lands and waters, and their associated mineral and nonmineral resources
• Commits to managing, protecting and improving lands and waters to serve the needs of the American public
• Discharges the duties of the secretary of the interior with the authority and direct responsibility for programs associated with public land management; operations management and leasing of public lands for energy resources and mineral extraction, including the Outer Continental Shelf to the outer limits of U.S. economic jurisdiction; mineral operations management on Indian lands; and surface mining reclamation and enforcement functions
• Oversees the Bureau of Land Management, Bureau of Ocean Energy Management, Bureau of Safety and Environmental Enforcement, and the Office of Surface Mining, Reclamation and Enforcement⁷

• Maximizes effectiveness of program operations of the subordinate bureaus and offices 

• Reviews legislation and regulatory proposals for consistency with approved policy, and oversees implementation of legislation and regulations as appropriate

• Ensures program goals are identified for assigned functions, that they support departmental objectives and that results are measured against them⁸

• Represents the secretary of the interior in interpreting and communicating assigned program activities to the public, and represents the department in contacts with other governmental organizations, private users and public interest groups

• Liaises with members of Congress and committee staffs

• Assigns responsibility for the execution of all laws and executive orders⁹

[Depends on the policy priorities of the administration.]